THREE young thugs are facing life sentences after being convicted of murdering a father-of-three in a burglary that went wrong.

The jury at Maidstone Crown Court returned unanimous guilty verdicts on Mark Elliott, 21, of Sandpiper Road, Whitstable, a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, and Curtis Delima, 19, of Regent Street, Whitstable, for the murder of local man Mark Witherall last year.

The court heard on Wednesday that Mr Witherall, 47, was attacked after his home in King Edward Street was broken into on January 27 last year.

He was struck with a builder's spirit level and kicked and punched in the street outside. He was taken to hospital with brain damage and died about six weeks later.

Adjourning sentence for reports until April 18, Judge Timothy Pontius described the case as "momentous and serious".

The judge said he would consider lifting an order banning the 16-year-old's identity from being published at the sentencing hearing.

Elliott was also convicted of conspiracy to burgle, a charge the 16-year-old boy and Delima had previously admitted to.

Elliott's girlfriend, 20-year-old Carley Firminger, also of Sandpiper Road, was acquitted of murder and manslaughter and discharged.

All had denied the murder charges.

Mr Witherall had a 30-year-old daughter, a 10-year-old daughter and an eight-year-old son.

Detective Inspector Ian Rogerson, the senior investigator in the case, said: “His family had to watch Mark die over a long period of time and this has left them devastated."

Read the family's agonising story in this week’s Whitstable Gazette.